Reunite
by Black Ice
Summary: last part up, story is finished After Evan's death, RogueMarie is forced to return to the Institute and see how things have changed.
1. The beginning

She left so that she could get away ****

Hey, I haven't written in awhile, so I figured I'd make my little author's note short and sweet. I don't own X-Men Evolution or any part of it (except my made-up characters). So just sit back and enjoy the fic. Reviews are welcome!

She left so that she could get away. She needed to escape, escape from the pressures of everyday life at the Institute, escape from the overwhelming presence of a mastermind, escape from the people who were there. The minute she had graduated from the high school, she left. Xavier had offered to pay for a nearby college where she could live at the Institute, but she'd hadn't accepted the offer. Instead, she had taken off and started to explore the US, earning money and finding herself.

But something had pulled her back. The death of one of her teammates. Probably the only one who had known what it felt like to be a rebellious teenager. The only one who had known what it was like to skip a class, to get an F, and to get drunk on the weekends. The only one with a real life. Evan. 

"You're back," was the simple stated response when she had entered the Institute for the first time in three years. Kitty had answered the door, dressed in black. Her eyes were rimmed in red. She was experiencing sadness. Was it for the first time in the airhead's life? 

"That I am," she responded. Kitty tried to place her arms around her, but she had stepped back. She wouldn't be allowing herself to become reattached to these people. She would be gone once the funeral was over.

"Rogue," she heard from behind her. Jean and Scott stepped off of the stairway and walked towards her. She shook her head slowly. They stopped.

"I don't go by Rogue anymore. That was my old life. I'm Marie now." Marie stated. Jean and Scott backed away. Marie guessed that she didn't even look like her old self anymore. She had long since discarded her Gothic attire, putting in its place shades of dark blue, purple, and black. Her face was unusually makeup free and her hair had lost its white touches. It was just red now. 

"Ok, uh, Marie, the Professor wants to speak to you," Jean said. Marie couldn't look at them together with Jean's hand wrapped around Scott's. It brought back to many unpleasant memories from her unfortunate childhood. She could still remember those nights when they thought that nobody would notice when Jean didn't go back to her own room. She had, and it had made her want to leave even more. 

"I'll go right up," Marie said. She didn't meet anybody's eyes as she climbed the stairs she hadn't touched in three years. The banisters felt dusty as she took the steps one by one. Slowly, she got to the door where the Professor's study was. She placed her hand on the doorknob, not knowing if she wanted to take off and run as far away as she could get. The primary reason she had left the first time was to escape the Professor. What was she doing walking right back his old traps?

"Come in," she heard from behind the door. She imagined that the Professor was probably grinning to himself, laughing about how she had hesitated. She finally mustered up the courage and opened the door. After stepping through it, she realized how much this very room was the same as it was three years ago.

"Hello," she said, her voice rising at the end of the simple word. The Professor gave an amused chuckle. 

"I'm not going to hurt you, Rouge," he said, referring to her old name. Marie shook her head.

"I go by Marie now, please don't call me that," she informed him. The Professor gave another amused chuckle and nodded his head. 

"I know that you're only here for the funeral, Marie," he started, "but I was hoping to persuade you to stay a bit longer. We have several new students who need a teacher. And besides that, everybody has missed you." 

"I don't plan on staying," Marie started, "You think I don't know what's going on? I'm not in the crusade anymore; I'm off of the battlefield. I want to be a normal person with a normal life. I don't give a fuck about anybody but myself and you're so-called Institute just made me even more miserable." 

"Marie, I'm not asking, this is a request," the Professor said. "I'm sure that you'll be glad to join us for a few months." Marie realized that he was trying to forcefully change her mind. It wouldn't work on her. She had gotten tips on mind barriers before she had come. 

"Well, I'm refusing your _request _Professor." Marie said, "I'm done here." She turned around and placed her hand on the door. She could hear the Professor sigh behind her. She whirled around to face him. "I'm not part of your group anymore. I left behind the name Rogue when I left the Institute. I'll be here for the funeral and no longer." This time she confidently walked out of the room, leaving a now frustrated Professor behind. She didn't look back, just straight ahead at the décor of the mansion. _People change, _she thought, _I sure have. But has anybody else? _


	2. Changes: Kitty

She started to explore all of the old, familiar landmarks of Institute 

She started to explore all of the old, familiar landmarks of Institute. Her room was the first place that she went to. She remembered all those mornings when Kitty would wake her up with a well-aimed toss of the alarm clock. All those late-night conversations on the phone that had kept her awake. All those times that Kitty had barged into the bathroom without reading the sign on the door. All of the likes and totallys that had dominated the airheads speak. Marie sighed to herself and pushed open the door. 

It was as if nothing had changed. Kitty's clothes still littered the floor and her CD's. The girl might be a college sophomore, but she didn't act like it. She had accepted the Xavier money, the Xavier debt, the Xavier attitude that Marie had left behind three years ago. Kitty's room held no reminders of a roommate once had. No new roommate had been added to the mix though. The second bed was left without sheets or a blanket. It just stood there like an empty casket waiting for a corpse. Kitty's stuff surprisingly avoided that particular place.

"Marie?" she heard behind her. Kitty's soft voice floated out from behind the door. She stood behind her, her red-rimmed eyes now hidden by dark, stylish glasses. Her black clothing had been accessorized by a light pink belt and headband that held Kitty's now shoulder-length hair out of her face. 

"Yes?" Marie answered. The pink was evidence of the old Kitty. The ditz who hadn't changed in the three years since she had set foot in this room. 

"You'll be staying in one of the guest rooms. It's down the hall." Kitty opened the door, something that Marie hadn't seen her do except for when she was in a public place. She led Marie down several hallways to the guest area of the mansion. She pushed open the door to one of the smaller, less decorated guestrooms. Marie tried to hide her disgust as she politely thanked Kitty and shut the door in her face. The room was pink. Very pink. It was obvious to her that Xavier was trying to get under her skin. Rogue opened a few of the dresser drawers and noticed they were all empty. She opened the closet. Her old X-Men uniform hung in front of her. Looking at the green and black bodysuit made her sick. She hadn't returned to this life. 

Her bag sat by the door. She reached into the front pocket and pulled out her lighter. She only used it on special occasions, when she wanted to smoke with some of her friends, but this warranted itself as a special occasion. She let the lighter set itself on fire and held it up to the uniform. Slowly and carefully, she burned the word 'no' onto the front of the uniform. The edges of the letters burned for a few moments and then slowly went out, leaving behind a nice, ragged outline. Marie shut the closet and put the lighter back into her bag. She wasn't here to stay. 

She slowly opened the door and left the room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind her. She wasn't surprised to find the danger room at the end of the hallway. Xavier had planned for her well. She chuckled to herself, deciding to follow his lead and walk into the room overlooking the danger room. Nobody was in the room, but they were running a simulation at that moment. Marie wasn't very surprised to see them using her old self, Rogue, as the enemy once again. If they couldn't have her, they would surely plot against her. 

"Marie, I didn't see you up here," she heard. The voice sounded a lot like Kitty's. Sure enough, the girl was once again nearby. 

"Well, I'm here, aren't I?" she asked. Kitty looked slightly taken aback, not ready for Marie's sarcastic comments. 

"Yes, I guess," Kitty aimlessly twisted something on her finger. Marie looked closer, already guessing what it was. 

"Who's the lucky guy?" she asked. Kitty blushed slightly and took her hand away from the ring. The diamond flickered in the light. 

"Well, you don't really know him that well." Kitty said, blushing again.

"Try me," Marie answered her, using the usual abruptness that had kept her alive for the last three years.

"Lance." Kitty whispered. 

"Aren't you the rebel now, aren't you," Marie teased. Kitty looked away once again, as if expecting something to pop out of the walls. 

"Shh! The Professor doesn't know and he won't know. I'm leaving here. Just like you did. None of us are that happy around here anymore. Not since Evan died." Kitty said, bitterly adding, "and it's all your fault."

"My fault, why is it my fault?" Marie asked, looking astonished. It wasn't her fault that Evan died. 

"Marie, if you had been there, you could have helped us prevent this. Then everything would have been fine. If you had just stayed here and been a good girl for a few more years then nobody would have gotten hurt." Kitty looked away.

Marie got to her feet and faced Kitty, "I left because I wasn't free here. You aren't either. Don't go blaming me for something I didn't do. It isn't my fault that you lost Evan. Don't try to make me feel guilty, 'cause it won't work." With that, she left the observation deck and went back to her pastel pink room. She angrily pulled the uniform out of the closet and finished the job she had started. Soon, there was nothing more then a pile of ashes left behind. 

Back in the Danger Room, the training X-Men captured the old Rogue and brought her to Scott who was standing on the sidelines. Scott nodded at them, smiling to himself. He was proud of his students. They had finally succeeded in capturing the enemy.


	3. Changes: Jean

The pink room was no more. The wallpaper had been shredded, the carpets covered with clothes, and the bedspread thrown into the closet. Marie surveyed the damage that her miniature temper tantrum had caused the room. Xavier wouldn't be that happy with her, but then again, since when had she ever cared?

_You did at one point, _a little voice reminded her. _You cared for us all. _Marie looked up, suddenly alerted to the fact that somebody was trying to make their voice sound like her thoughts. She slowly got up and walked to the door. She forcefully pulled it open and slammed it into the wall. Jean stood behind the door. 

"Your tricks aren't going to work on me anymore," Marie said, slamming the door back into her face. Jean's hand went out in front of her, allowing her a good look at the room. The horror showed on her face as she surveyed the damage done. 

"What did you do?" she asked in awe.

"I've removed the examples of Xavier's past. You like?" Marie said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice. Jean continued to survey the room and click her tongue in dissatisfaction. Marie decided that now was the time to take matters into her own hands.

"Get out," she demanded. Jean swung her hair around her head and started towards the door. Marie looked at Jean as she left, then noticed something somewhat odd about the situation. "Jean, come back here."

"Yes?" Jean asked. She sat down in a chair nearby the stripped bed. Marie looked over her a second time. Jean's hair was cut short just over her ears. Her piercing eyes were now dull and almost listless. Her stomach slightly bulged out from her red thick-strapped tank top.

Marie tried to think of a decent way to word her next question, but she couldn't. Finally, she just let the words roll of her tongue, hoping that Jean wouldn't be offended. "Are you pregnant?"

Jean looked bewildered for a minute, then smiled weakly. "Yes." she stated. Marie took a sharp intake of breath. She could still remember all those lectures they had gotten from Xavier about teenage drink, pregnancies, and drug using. She thought she had been the only one ever to break one of his rules, but apparently not. Jean was the only one in those lectures to furiously nod her head and practically applaud at the end of every one of Xavier's statements. And now she was pregnant. That wasn't the Jean that Marie had grown up with. 

"Scott?" Marie asked, not holding her breath. She already knew the answer to the question. Jean gave her another weak smile.

"Yes," she said. She placed her hand on her belly. "Second one." 

"Second kid?" Marie asked, astonished. Jean was only about twenty-two right now. 

"Last year," Jean started to trail off, a tear evident in her dull eye, "it was a girl. A healthy girl, born on Scott's birthday. She had bits of brown hair and my eyes and was absolutely perfect. The Professor wouldn't let us keep her though. I had to give my little Jenna to an adoption agency. I have no idea where she is." Tears were now rolling down her cheeks. "I don't know what's going to happen with this baby. I want to keep it, but I'm not sure if I'll be allowed. A baby is a lot of work and I'm not married yet." Jean continued to babble, but Marie stopped listening to her. 

A baby girl, little Jenna. The Professor had probably decided that the baby would get in the way of training, the way of the supposed future his freedom fighters had. He put it before the maternal love of a twenty-one year old. And Jean would have never allowed this to happen when they were little. She was always the one who never wanted to be anything but the best, especially to Xavier. She wanted to be perfect. The perfect soldier for Xavier to model to all the perspective candidates. The clone of himself. And now she wasn't. That was probably why he'd forced her to give up Jenna. 

"Was either pregnancies an accident?" Marie asked, cutting Jean off from her long speech about the probability of Jenna being a mutant. 

Jean looked down at her feet. "No," she whispered. "I wanted to leave, set up a house outside of the Institute where Scott and I could live and have our children and still be influences here, but the Professor didn't like the idea. Scott didn't either. The Professor doesn't know yet. Scott doesn't want to give the baby up this time, but he doesn't want to leave. Something is going to have to give and it will probably be this." Jean patted her stomach. 

Marie watched her in disgust. "You mean to tell me that you'd give up your own child for the happiness of a man who's all but controlled our entire lives?" she started. All of her emotions started to pour out of her heart as she started to yell. "You can't let him take control anymore."

"Yes I can, and I will," Jean said. She got up and looked towards Marie. "You don't understand, I've wronged, not the Professor. I owe him my life. And if you'd stuck around, you would have owed him your life too, he saved us all. And if you'd been here, you could have saved Evan. We all know you could have." She started towards the door and left the room, slamming it behind her as she left. Marie lay back on the stripped bed and sighed to herself. Things hadn't changed at all. She thought Jean might have, but she hadn't after all. 

Back in the Danger Room, Scott's students were now fighting holographic monsters. Scott yelled constant reminds to them only to hit the ones that were different from the rest. Those were the ones who were killed.


	4. The Dream

Marie lay down in her bed. The sheets were an off-white in color, going against the entire pink scheme of the room. She eventually fell asleep, ignoring the requests to join the others at the dinner table. Feverish nightmares struck her as she tossed and turned that night. Pictures of her old life came swarming back in front of her eyes. Kitty falling through walls, Scott shooting things, Kurt teleporting, Jean flying, and Evan throwing spikes at things, all in the danger room. They all continued what they were doing for a few moments as Marie watched them from a distance. Suddenly, they all turned towards her at once and started stalking towards her, forming a circle. 

"You influenced me in a bad way, I'm going to have to give up my baby," Jean yelled. Marie looked towards her, only to feel a hand on her shoulder. She swung around. 

"If you'd stayed, I wouldn't have strayed from the group. I wouldn't be running away," Kitty yelled. "I shouldn't be doing that, it's wrong, but I'm doing it because of you." Marie covered her eyes with her hands. Another hand clasped her shoulder and swung her around. This time she was facing Kurt.

"Mother came back for me, she needed to talk to me," he whispered. "But you left, and you were like another daughter to her. She's gone now. She won't ever talk to me again. I won't get to find out anything about my past life." Kurt pulled up one of his sleeves to show Marie the blue fur on his arm. It was cut off in chunks, light scars running down parts of it, the fur growing unevenly. "You could have prevented this."

"No I couldn't!" Marie yelled, "you all made your choices. I didn't have anything to do with any of them. Just get away from me. Stop telling me it was my fault. Stop telling me that I hurt you. You all hated me while I was here." She tried to run, but was stopped by Scott placing both of his hands on her shoulders.

"You are like an Angel, Kate," he whispered. "To bad that Angel is gone, replaced by something much worse. You're not with us, you're against us. If you'd been here, I wouldn't have to be a dad so early in my life. I wouldn't have had to watch my Professor give up my children. I would have been happy with somebody else." Marie looked up at him. He'd never wanted her. He'd only had eyes for Jean. What was he talking about? She tried to push her way out of the circle, but another hand forced her back and turned her around. She dropped her eyes to the ground, not wanting to face whoever wanted to talk to her now. A hand placed itself under her chin and forcefully pulled her face up. A grotesque face stared at her. The skin was dark and rotting. Chunks of yellow hair sprouted from the scalp, which looked like it was about to fall off of the person's head. 

"You could have saved me, Rogue," the figure said. 

"Evan?" she whispered. The figure quickly shook its head.

"I'm not Evan anymore, Rogue, I'm dead." At the end of the statement, the figure burst into flames and soon a pile of ashes landed at Marie's feet. A whole in the group was open now. She took off running, stepping in the ashes and dragging a few of them with her as she ran. She continued to run, faster and faster, not looking where she was going until she smacked into something. 

"We can offer you the best here, Rogue," she heard. Professor Xavier sat in his wheelchair in front of her. Even though somebody had almost knocked him out of his chair, he looked surprisingly calm. He was sitting in the garden. A fountain trickled beside him and there were several benched lined up in a circle around him. 

"Will you people stop calling me that!" Marie yelled. "My name is Marie! I left Rogue behind when I left the Institute. I shouldn't have come back. It's just causing me more problems, forcing me to face the stuff that I tried to get away from. Like you." she pointed to Xavier. He smiled to himself and started to chuckle.

"Good, Rogue, get your anger out." He pressed his fingers to his forehead and started to send images and thoughts into her head. Marie saw herself in his office yelling, she saw herself talking to Kitty and Jean and she saw herself running. Random words started to go through her head. 

_I'm not in the crusade anymore; I'm off of the battlefield, _she saw herself yell. Xavier's voice entered her head, pushing its way in. "You don't have to be, Rogue, we can fix you."

_I'm leaving here. Just like you did, _she heard Kitty's voice echo. She saw Kitty's face, innocent and pink Kitty. "She's staying here, Rogue, she won't be leaving us like you did," he said, trying to sound condescending. Marie tried to push Xavier out of her head, but he started to click his tongue at her. 

"I have one more, Rogue," he said. He pulled up an image of Jean into her head. _You don't understand, I've wronged, not the Professor. I owe him my life, _she said. Marie didn't need to hear what Xavier was going to say to her. She could practically say it with him. She knew what he was about to say by heart. "She's right Rogue, accept it." 

"Stop calling me Rogue!" Marie yelled. "I'm not that girl anymore. Leave me alone!" She started to push Xavier out of her head as hard as possible. Finally, she opened her eyes and saw him sitting in front of her. To her horror, Xavier slowly struggled out of his chair and stood in front of her. 

"She accepted us, why can't you?" he asked slowly, pointing off into the distance. Marie watched as her old self walked out of the doors of the mansion and towards her. Her old Gothic self, somebody who she had left behind. 

"Because I'm not that girl anymore." Marie stated. She looked Xavier in the eyes and pushed him back into his chair. As quickly as she had entered, the girl disappeared. Xavier shut his eyes. "I'm going." Marie stated. She slowly walked back up to her room. As she was walking up to the room, she felt her body going limp. 

"Marie!" she heard. It sounded as if it was coming from a distance. "Marie!" the voice said more urgently. Marie looked around her. Nobody was there. She closed her eyes, leaving herself to lie on the stairs. She slowly opened them minutes later, finding herself in her no-longer pink room. Kitty was staring down at her, somewhat frantically. 

"You were having some sort of nightmare," Kitty said, looking concerned. Marie looked out her window. The lights of dawn were slowly escaping from the trees. 

"I'm fine," she said, pushing Kitty away. "Get out." Kitty quickly left the room. Marie looked around her bedroom. Everything seemed normal. Had it just been a dream? The hellish experiences in the Institute all a nightmare? She rubbed her eyes again and looked around the room. She was going to subject herself to torture here for another day. Evan's funeral was tomorrow, she would just leave for the entire day. She would get away. 

The danger room was usually empty this early in the morning. But this time, somebody was sitting in the middle of the room. Xavier sat there, his fingers pressed to his forehead. A few moments later, he looked up, exhausted. He started to slowly wheel out of the danger room and back to his own room. Even though he was tired, a small smile was evident.


	5. Changes: Scott

Marie sat down in an empty chair in the edge of the dining room. After skipping dinner the night before, she really had to eat now. It was more a matter of life and death then a matter of skipping out on the family bonding events that Xavier had no doubtedly planned for that morning. For the first time in ages, the room was empty. There was no Kurt stealing food off of other plates, no Jean moving it back. Kitty wasn't proclaiming the innocence of the sausages and ham that usually were placed on the opposite side of the table. Marie sighed and got up and walked over to the table and grabbed an apple. She found herself wishing that she could have everybody at the table with her, everybody eating with her so that she wouldn't have to have such a meager meal.

"You could have this life back if you wanted it. All you have to do is ask." Marie turned to see the form of Xavier sitting in his wheelchair. "I know you want to come back, _Rogue,_" he said, stressing the name. Xavier looked as if he had stayed up half the night. His eyes had small dark circles underneath them. He obviously hadn't spent the night sleeping in one of the plush rooms that he furnished with the money that seemed to appear out of nowhere. 

"Get away from me. I know you sent that dream. You want me back that bad?" Marie started to laugh. The laugh soon turned hysterical as she spit out a final sentence. "You can't have me here anymore." She started to let her feelings take control of her body. She walked closer and closer to Xavier and placed her hands on the back of his chair.

"Don't do it, Rogue," Xavier said, knowing what she was going to do. Marie gave another hysterical laugh. She felt herself start to tip the chair forward and was only stopped when she heard a voice behind her.

"Tip that and I'll blast your brains out." The voice was low and masculine. It was very different then the one she had listened to preach at her for the years of her childhood, but she knew it anyway. 

"Hello, Scott," she said. Xavier took this opportunity to leave the room as fast as he could. Scott watched him as he left. 

"You would have done it, wouldn't you." he stated, ignoring Marie's previous attempt to be civilized. 

"He sent me a nightmare last night. I think I had a right to be a bit angry." Marie said. She immediately saw Scott's face tense up and realized she had said the wrong thing. 

"The Professor is the best thing that has ever happened to me," he stated. "I owe him my life."

"You sound like the young mother," Marie shot back. "Don't you ever get tired of owing him your life? Don't you get tired of being forever in his debt? I mean, he gave away your baby for god's sake. And from what I heard, you didn't even try to fight him. In fact, you were in favor of him."

"I owe him my life." Scott repeated, as if he was some sort of CD with a scratch. Marie shook her head. Was he that blind to the truth? Did he really think that Xavier had taken him in for anything but his own good? Scott was now about twenty-three or twenty-four, he was perfectly capable of making his own decisions. He didn't need some bald control-freak telling him what to do.

"Scott, he's taken over your life." Marie said in a last desperate attempt to reach the mind of her old friend. Scott looked at her and shook his head once again.

"I. Owe. Him. My. Life," he announced proudly, enunciating the words. Scott lifted his chin as he said the words, as if proclaiming his allegiance to the United States. 

Marie realized that this was a useless cause. Scott either truly believed what he was saying or had been brainwashed at some point in his life. She couldn't make a difference in his life. But why was she trying? He'd never done anything for her. He'd never returned her feelings, he'd never helped her when she needed it. She'd covered up for him so many times when he and Jean had stayed out to late or had done something wrong and he had never paid her back. He'd never cared. "I guess this means that you'll be saying goodbye to your baby," she said, clamping her hand over her mouth.

"I don't know about that yet," Scott said. He started to run his fingers over his glasses. "I'm to dangerous to be around children, I might blast a hole in them. The Professor told me that. If he hadn't have told me, I could have hurt somebody. I owe him my life, you know."

"I guess some people never change." Marie whispered. She sat back down in her chair and chewed on the remains of the apple. Scott gave her another weary look and left the dining room without a word. Marie watched him go. Her old childhood playmate was gone in that man. A Xavier clone had taken his place. She wouldn't have minded normally, but this struck to close to home. She had watched people throw away their lives to obsessions, but those people weren't close to her. Scott was. Or had been at some point in time. 

Marie sighed to herself and deposited the remains of the apple in the trashcan. She walked up to her room and grabbed her purse, preparing to spend the day out of the Institute and away from the crowds of Xavier worshipers that were its occupants. The door slammed shut behind her, but nobody seemed to care. 

In the danger room, Kitty, Jean, Scott and Kurt had joined together for a session. Scott was often shouting commands and watching as Kitty and Jean ignored him. Xavier watched from the observation deck and frowned. Things weren't supposed to be this way.


	6. Changes: Pietro

Even the streets of Bayville had changed. The twisted, unpaved roads had turned into paved highways with cars flying down them at speeds up to eighty miles per hour. The old pathways had been turned into sidewalks. The old amphitheater had been torn down and been developed. Several large houses stood where it had once been. A sign in front of one of them read "Bayville's Home for the Incredibly Messed." 

Marie let herself have another small laugh. She quickly walked down the walkway to the front door and rang the doorbell. The sound was somewhat frightening, a mixture between a frog croaking and an earthquake. It was finished up by a rather loud burp. Marie felt herself sigh, she wasn't sure if it was in happiness or sadness though. Moments later, the cat-door opened. 

"Go away, we don't like visitors," a voice yelled. The door started to swing back and forth. The voice from inside the door started to yell. "I don't care if you want to go out right now. You can't! Don't hold up that paw for me! You wouldn't dare." A few seconds later, a howl could be heard from inside the door. A cat pushed its way out of the door and walked primly beside Marie and down the stairs. 

"You might want to open the door." Marie yelled. She racked her brain to think of a password or phrase that could convince the man behind the door to open it. 

"You might want to get lost," the man yelled back. Marie could here a slight interest in his voice. 

"I've got somebody who needs to go into the house for the incredibly messed." Marie said, knocking lightly on the door, a code from her brief time with the occupants. The man on the other side laughed to himself.

"Oh yeah? Who?" he said, obviously up for the challenge.

"Scott Summers." Marie said. She knew that this would get their attention. The man on let out a laugh and started to unlock the door.

"If this is you again, Rahne, and you forgot your keys, then I told you not to go out! We just had somebody around here, I hope you didn't transform in front of…" he trailed off, seeing Marie standing in front of the door. 

"Umm, can I help you Ma'am? I hope you don't mind what I just said. My girlfriend, Rahne, just left a few minutes ago and we like to give each other a hard time about locking each other out." The man at the door was tall and dressed in a preppy style. His hair was white at the roots and a darker blonde color at the top. 

"You don't recognize me?" Marie said, astonished. She didn't think that she had changed her appearance that much. "The sign in your front lawn really gives you away Pietro. How did you get Rahne to join the brotherhood? She was with the X-Men last time I was there." 

"Rogue?" whispered Pietro, starting to open the door a bit wider. Marie stared at him and took a step in. 

"I go by Marie now," she said. "I know I only spent a few months here, but this place is far better off then the stupid Institute. So, that was Rahne, wasn't it? I thought she was a wolf. That looked like a cat." 

Pietro laughed to himself. "She learned how to shrink her wolf self smaller, to look like a cat. She likes to 'go outside' and have fun sometimes." He smiled to himself. It was evident that he was enjoying his girlfriend and her cat-like ways. "So…why are you here?"

"Had to get away from all those Xavier clones." Marie said, without batting an eye. Pietro laughed. His voice had deepened since she had last seen him. She took another step inside. Pietro closed the door behind her. She noticed he was bleeding nearby the mouth. 

"It hasn't changed, has it?" Pietro said, thoughtfully. "I can still remember those days when you would come and sit with us, even though it wasn't very often. Scott and Jean would send looks at you that were filled with such hatred that we would all flinch." He laughed to himself. "What do they think of you being over here now? Last I heard, you took off three years ago."

"That I did. And they don't know." Marie said. At that moment, the cat walked back in through the cat-door. Pietro bent down to pet it. His hand lovingly touched the fur as the small cat turned into a girl that Marie only knew a little. Marie had never seen Pietro act this way around anybody before. He gave Rahne a small hug, keeping her eyes away from Marie. She let go of him, sensing that there was somebody there. As she looked at Marie, fear began to fill her eyes. 

"I won't go back!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. "You can't make me! I won't do it! I won't live under those rules anymore!" She buried her face in Pietro's shoulder. He started to murmur soothing words into her ear. Marie sensed it was time to go. She slowly placed her hand on the doorknob and opened the front door. 

"Don't go, Marie. We've got stuff to talk about." Pietro said, still holding Rahne. Rahne's sobs were evident now, growing louder and louder by the minutes. 

"Don't worry 'bout it. I don't want to be the cause of anymore pain." Marie said. She swiftly left as quickly as she had come. She took a closer look at the sign in front of the house as she left. It was rotting. The entire house looked fine from the outside, but this sign had been around since she had joined their little group. It was a kind of Brotherhood trademark. Maybe they hadn't changed all that much. Maybe they had stayed the same after all. She wasn't going to be able to find out now. She defiantly wasn't welcome anymore. It didn't matter how polite Pietro seemed to be or what kind of act any of the members put on for her. They hadn't forgiven her for her betrayal all those years ago. She hadn't even forgiven herself. These people had given her a home and given her friendship and she had given them up for a manipulative Xavier house with popular annoyances and ditzy youngsters. 

Her last sentence caught her mind. _Cause of anymore pain…_drifted in and out of her head. She hadn't caused anymore pain. Not since she left. She didn't do much while she was there and she defiantly didn't do anything to them after she had left. _Evan's death hadn't been her fault_, she reminded herself. She couldn't have done anything to prevent it. She had been almost a thousand miles away at the time of the accident.

Xavier was watching the Danger Room session and smiling to himself. The newest students had begun to train with him. They had to get into a house and pull out the victims of a fire before the entire house was engulfed. The one strategically placed victim stayed in the house after Xavier deemed it clear. His outline holographically burned to the Danger Room floor with the rest of the house. Xavier smiled to himself as the ashes were swept into a pile and disposed of. He wouldn't have to worry about that person anymore.

****

Hey, author's note! Aren't you all just so _excited! _*rolls eyes* This part didn't exactly turn out the way I wanted it to. And Rahne's only in there 'cause I needed a cat-like mutant and didn't want to invent one. This probably goes very much against her personality, but I don't know anything about her since I only watch Evolution and seen the movie, never read the comics. So, live with it and I'll try to make the next part a little better.


	7. Changes: Kurt

****

Hey, I know I haven't written this one for awhile, but I was suddenly inspired to write another chapter, rejoining the Anti-Xavier feelings that Neva started. I hope that I haven't lost many readers (not like there were many to begin with) and that you'll all read and enjoy this part. This story is almost over. 

-Black Ice

Oh, the song in this story is In The End, by Linkin Park 

She wouldn't have been able to find her way back to the Institute that night, not even if she had tried her hardest and had a compass installed in her brain. She had managed to find her way to the local bar; ordering beer after beer until her problems had been thrown into the vat of insecurity she kept in her head. Marie slowly looked around her, nothing in focus and located a phone. She stumbled over to it, pressing the buttons that she had once known by heart. She had memorized those numbers when she was required to be back by curfew. But it was almost 2 AM—curfew was past hours ago. She doubted anybody knew or would care where she was, but she wanted to get back. Waking up in a strange bar with a hangover was not on her list of priorities, but getting back to the Institute where she could wake up in a familiar place was. The Institute was rarely seen as a safe haven for Marie, but this was one of the only times she ever wanted to get there. 

The phone rang three time, each time getting louder and louder. Finally, somebody picked up.

"Hello?" the sleepy voice of the Professor said. He sounded as if he already knew who it was on the phone and what she was about to ask. Marie gave a short laugh and hung up the phone. She wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of knowing that she wanted to get back. He would use the information to torture her day in and day out until the funeral later that day….

Any evidence of being drunk suddenly left the girl who now seemed miraculously sober. The funeral—Evan's funeral—was later that day. She looked at her watch. It was in about ten hours. She had to find a way back and take something so she could at least attend. Panicked, Marie looked around the bar. There was a couple in the corner making out and a man who looked like he spent all of his days in the bar with a constant-shoppers deal. Another man entered the bar a few moments later. He had dark shoulder length hair. The drunk man seemed to know who he was. 

"Nice to see you today, Kurtty, old pal," the man at the bar slurred. "You're late. I was going to take you on at the beach with the pistols, but I suppose our duel can wait for later." Marie looked towards him and then towards the man who had taken a seat next to the drunk. It was defiantly Kurt. Something about him had changed though. His once playful eyes were swollen and his hair looked ill-kept and in need of a hair cut. He wasn't the playful blue-devil that Marie had once prided herself in knowing and loving as if he was a playful younger brother. 

"Kurt. Is that you?" Marie asked, walking over to where he stood. The man looked up towards her. It was him.

"Marie, what are you doing here?" Kurt said. His accent was gone. It was as if he hadn't been back to Germany in years. The way Xavier was, Marie concluded, he probably hasn't. 

"Getting drunk," she said, laughing bitterly. A wave of nauseousness swept over her and she rocked back and forth on her unstable feet. Kurt got up and grabbed hold of her shoulder.

"I'm taking you back," he said, half pushing her towards the door. Even though she had wanted to return, the means of transportation were less then to be desired at this moment. 

"What about our duel?" the drunken man yelled after him, "I want to be like Aaron Burr. Kill you. Shoot you where it'll hurt the most!"

"Next week, Phil," Kurt said. He opened the door and pushed Marie out. He looked longingly back at the counter and shook his head. He pushed Marie into the passenger seat and started the car. The streets of Bayville rushed past them as the car began to speed up.

"What were you doing?" Kurt asked, sounding something like Scott. Marie shook her head and pressed a button on the radio. The car soon filled with random music lyrics. 

__

I tried so hard  
And got so far  
But in the end  
It doesn't even matter  
I had to fall   
And lose it all  
But in the end   
It doesn't even matter

blasted from the radio. Marie silently hummed along. The lyrics hit very close to home for her. No matter how much she had tried to please anybody, it hadn't mattered in the end. She had just given up on pleasing and started on rebelling. It had gotten her somewhere in life. None of the Xavier students would ever matter in the end, but maybe she would. Maybe because of her rebellion, she would be able to be somebody besides another brainwashed solider heading out for a pointless battle. 

"What were you doing at the bar?" Marie asked, still ignoring Kurt's question. She reached forward and turned down the radio. The song faded and a peppy girl-band began another rant about how their boyfriends had dumped them and they needed new guys to make the old ones jealous. Marie shuddered and turned off the radio, the silence more evident then before. 

"Drinking, what else?" Kurt said. "You're not the only one with problems Marie. I wish you'd stuck around."

"What do you mean?" Marie started rocking back and forth in her seat, but it wasn't from the alcohol. Kurt, the happiest, most able to be counted on boy had had problems? It didn't sound like him at all.

"Look." Kurt pulled back his shirtsleeve. Jagged white scars ran along his wrist. "Mother came back and wanted to talk to you. She was willing to talk to me, give me answers. But you weren't there and she left. She doesn't care about me. If you'd been there…" Kurt trailed off and rolled his sleeve back down. He took a sharp right turn on the street and pulled into the Institute's driveway. 

"I couldn't have done anything." Marie yelled. "Will you people please stop blaming me! I couldn't have prevented that! You did that on your own free will. I had nothing to do with it." 

Kurt silently shook his head. "If you'd been there, then you might have been able to help me. Kitty's running away with Lance because of you. She didn't like me like you'd once promised me."

"Then you should have pulled yourself together! Gone to the Professor…" Marie caught what she was saying and tried to pull the words back into her mouth, but she couldn't. Kurt looked at her like she had some sort of contagious disease. 

"Take your own advice, Marie," he said. His voice was cold and hardened. "I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore. You cost me my past, you need not ruin my future too." He opened her door and pushed her out of the car. The Institute loomed before them like a frightening monument to Satan. He got back into the car and drove away, undoubtedly going back to the bar. Marie struggled up the stairs and into the door, never knowing that Xavier was watching her over the security cameras and laughing insanely to himself. 

~

It was almost 3 AM, but Xavier felt the need to call a meeting of his oldest recruits anyway. Sleepily, they all walked to the danger room. All but Kurt was present, falling onto each other's shoulders and using Scott as support. The Professor forced them to start running laps showing them what the obedient recruit acted like. Finally, they were forced into another session of search and rescue. An old friend of theirs was the one who was supposed to be rescued; but she turned against them at the last moment, preventing them from finishing their mission. Angrily, they all fought together against the girl they once considered a friend. They were allowed back to their beds only after Xavier felt his intentions were made clear. Xavier watched them go, reminding them that he only had their best interest at mind when he called the early morning session. He smiled as he watched them go, his smile growing in size as the last one left the room. His intentions had been heard. They wouldn't cross him. Not when he had their best interests at heart.


	8. Insomnia

****

Ok, I know I haven't written this story in awhile, but I felt like finishing it. There will be one more part after this unless I change my mind. The poem in this part is 'The Road Less Taken' by Robert Frost. I hope you all enjoy it.

-Black Ice

Normal disclaimer stuff here, all characters are not mine, but Madison (mentioned for about five paragraphs) is. I would prefer you not use her or the idea of her without my permission.

The small bedside alarm clock flashed three AM as Marie finally lay down in her bed. She had done an extraordinary amount of pacing around her room and questioning what she was really doing there before she had actually decided that it was time to get some rest. Restlessly she turned over in the cardboard bed, willing sleep to come over her insomniac body. The blessing of sleep did not overcome her as she tossed her body over again. The flashing red lights announced that it was three fifteen. 

Agitated and restless, Marie sat straight up in bed. She looked towards the ceiling of the dismantled guestroom she was occupying. In her apartment, there would be posters of Greek and Roman mythological gods on the walls, protecting her from the evils of those who wanted to do her in. Here, there was no such protection and the person who wanted her to betray those she loved the most was probably sitting in his bedroom, trying to read her thoughts and take away her god given free will. 

Sighing, Marie lay down again. Nobody around here cared about her. They all saw her the same, as a freelanced bitch that had left them. Everybody had changed in her time away. Nobody had remained the way that she remembered them. The fun-loving, carefree bunch she had grown up with was no more. A group of hardened adults had taken their place, complete with rebels and people so brainwashed that they didn't even know their own name. 

Marie cautiously closed her eyes, as if expecting Xavier to jump out on her from one of the curtains. The one thing that she hadn't lost in her time away from the Institution was her reflex ability. Being on her own required a certain amount of skills that she had only learned in her time at the Institute. In a way, the Institute for 'Gifted' Youngsters had actually prepared her for life on her own, as if it had expected her to get out of there the moment she had graduated. It was as if the Institute itself was a mutant, one that could predict the future of anybody who entered its doors and prepared them accordingly.

She quickly pushed that thought to the side of her head. Insomnia tended to make her think peculiar and sundry thoughts that never would have come to her in any other time of place. Marie felt her body relax and tried to allow sleep to overtake her. 

_You're abandoning them, _she heard in her ear. She tried to open her eyes but it was futile. Something was keeping her asleep. Suddenly she fell to the ground, her body breaking on the impact. Unfamiliar and familiar faces mixed together looked down upon her. Faces belonging to those she had seen the night before and those who she'd never seen before in her life. 

_Don't abandon us again, _one of the faces commanded in a harsh whisper. Marie whipped around to see who had spoken the eerily silent words into her ear. The faces around her seemed to laugh silently at her. 

_You abandoned me. Now I'm leaving, _she heard. Marie decided that that voice had come from the Kitty replica that was floating in front of her face. She gave a swipe at it and the face disappeared in a wisp of haze. 

_You abandoned us all, I'm a drunken fool, _she heard again. That one was Kurt. A man she had always looked up to, a man she had been honored to once refer to as her almost-brother. A man who now sat at a barstool at two AM, sipping beer with a man who thought that he was Aaron Burr. Kurt's face loomed out at her, the fur cut into an uneven pattern, almost like the one that they had encountered years ago when Jean had been brainwashed. The thought of brainwashing made Marie let out a small laugh, causing each and every one of the faces to look towards her. 

"I'm not responsible!" she yelled. "You've chosen your paths, you've made your decisions, just as I had. _And I? I took the path less traveled by. And that has made all the difference,_" she quoted. Every single one of the faces disappeared just as Kitty's had, leaving Marie in a barren, empty wasteland. A girl in the distance stepped towards her, somebody whom she'd never seen before. Judging by the girls face, she was lost and scared. Most likely she was a new mutant, an incompetent student at the 'school'. The girl took another step closer to Marie. Marie looked her over. Her body was the same as every other student at the school, but her face was something different. Her mouth and nose were missing from her face.

_Can you help me? _the girl asked. She looked scared, as much as her face would allow it. _I'm new here, only fifteen. I don't know how to get out._

"Who are you?" Marie asked, amazed to her a telepathic voice other than Xavier's in her head. The girl shrugged her shoulders and motioned to her face. Marie took another look at her. She saw the same hardened eyes that she recognized in Xavier every time she looked at him. 

_I'm Madison, _she said, grabbing Marie's hand. _Can you play with me? I'm lonely. _Madison's hand felt cold in Marie's. She allowed herself to be dragged along after the strange little girl to a pool of water. Marie looked into it. The reflection staring back at her was one of Rogue. The white makeup, the pouty smile, the hair, it was all of her old self. Madison let out a telepathic giggle. 

_I like her, _she said. Marie looked closely at Madison. 

"Who are you?" she asked again. This time, Madison giggled out loud. She placed her hands on Marie's back, her face violently contorting. A seem ripped into her mouthless face. 

"I'm everything that you once were," she said in a raspy voice. Her hands pushed forward as hard as possible, pushing Marie into the pool of water. Marie fell towards the bottom of the pool and then out into an air-filled field. Gasping for breath, she watched as Madison landed on her feet next to her. 

_Play with me?_ Madison asked again, her eyes shimmering mysteriously. Marie shook her head. 

"Xavier! I've had enough of your games. Let me out," she yelled. Madison put her head into her hands, as if crying. 

_She needs you, my little Rogue, _Marie heard in her head. _She needs you to be her mentor. Somebody who will never be able to communicate normally with mankind, just as you will never be able to intimately touch anybody. She needs you, my strong Rogue. _

"Leave me alone!" Marie yelled at the top of her lungs. "I'm not one of you anymore! I gave that up when I left the Institute." Madison began to aimlessly play with the flowers in the field, then disappeared from view entirely. Marie felt herself being shaken. What felt like a violent earthquake began to rock under her feet. She jumped from one foot to the other, and finally felt herself being pulled upwards. 

Marie looked around at her new surroundings. They were barren, like before, but not as much as a dump as she had expected. This time, three graves were all that occupied the area. She towards them, almost knowing what would be written on each of them before she got there. Her, Kitty, and Evan's names would most likely be the ones that Xavier littered into her mind. The names of those who had been different. 

Marie crouched next to the first grave. 'Evan Daniels'it read. It was just what she had expected. The name of the one whom had actually died. She sat down next to the second grave. This one simply read, 'Rogue.' Once again, it had been something she was expecting. Marie bent down next to the last grave stone. Quickly she rubbed the moss away from the name, gasping at what she saw. 'Madison Monroe,' it read. The name of the strange little girl she had met just minutes ago. Suddenly Marie understood. She knew the answers. She grabbed a stick off of the dirt and wrote 'The ones who were different—and proud of it'. 

"Xavier! Let me out of here!" she yelled. There was no reply. "There is nothing you can do for me. You made my tombstone just as you tried to make my future! Now let me go." Still there was no reply, but she could almost feel Xavier pondering what she had said. She suddenly felt her eyes go weak, then detach themselves from one another. 

Marie sat straight up in bed. The red flashing lights next to her informed her that it was six AM. She knew what she was going in a few hours at the funeral. She knew what Evan would want her to do. 

~

The danger room was empty of its normal early morning activities. A sleepless Xavier sat in his wheelchair at the observation deck. Nobody would come when he called anymore.


	9. The Funeral

****

Hi, last part. Thanks to all the supporters and to Neva for emailing me and pressuring me to finish this. I hope that I write another fic soon, but I've been busy (hence the lateness of this part). 

Normal disclaimer stuff goes here. 

Marie watched as the clock blinked from eight fifty-one to eight fifty-two. The previous night's experiences had taught her never to sleep. She had assumed the role of an eternal insomniac, watching as the sun slowly rose in the horizon. Every few minutes she had felt herself begin to fall into the open arms of Morpheus only at the last second jolting awake the begin the process over again. 

She swung her legs over the side of the bed and walked over to the open bag to select the days' attire. The mixture of colors screamed back at her. Pastels that she wouldn't have normally worn when she was a teenager looked inviting, but for the days events were not appropriate. She pulled out the usual black that the others had become accustomed too. After quickly changing, she set out for the kitchen. The halls of the mansion seemed to stare at her, willing her to kick and scream and rip the expensive paper and paintings from them. They seemed to beg to be freed from the hell of putting on a show for the government officials who once had regularly checked to see if Xavier was being kind to his posterity. The officials had visited five times shortly after Tabitha had left. Soon, they had been convinced that the Institute was a fine place for people to live, learn, and be cherished. On their last visit, Marie and Evan had almost spilled the dark side of the light story the officials had been impregnated with. That experience wasn't one that she held onto fondly.

Upon entering the kitchen, she immediately noticed the wide variety of colors that the occupants adorned. Pastels, fluorescence, and earthy tones stared back at her. Not one piece of black clothing swathed anybody. Nobody was dressed for the mourning of the lost soul. Nobody seemed to notice that the table was missing one of the original members of the group that was self-proclaimed the X-Men.

"Ahem," Marie began, trying to get the occupants attention. Kitty and Jean both looked towards her. Scott glanced up in her general direction. Kurt looked over, his eyes covered with dark glasses. It was the only black that any of the four wore. 

"What?" Jean asked, politely. 

"I feel that it's appropriate that I give the speech at Evan's funeral. I did know him the best," Marie said. Scott opened his mouth to protest, but Kitty held a hand up. 

"I think she's right," she put in, obviously sensing what Marie was up to. Marie looked over at Kitty and gave her a rare smile. Kitty looked somewhat shocked, but quickly reformed and continued to eat. Marie grabbed an apple out of the basket in the middle of the table and left the kitchen. She had to go and word her speech. The funeral would be in three hours--eleven-thirty, and she needed to be ready.

~~

Marie watched as the casket was brought into the large funeral home. Evan's parents were occupying the front row, along with Ororo. Logan sat next to her. The Professor's wheelchair stood in the aisle, blocking the procession of people who were stepping forward to view the body one more time. Xavier seemed to just sit there, stony-faced, allowing the mourners to squeeze through the narrow space and back. 

Marie looked down the row she was sitting in. She looked down the row of people. Kitty, Jean, Scott, Kurt all sitting there, staring straight ahead. Only Kitty showed any emotion. The rest were acting as if Evan was sitting there with them, alive and well and ready to skateboard out of the funeral home and towards the local Skate Park. Marie looked straight ahead and noticed the Minister's mouth was moving. She didn't quite understand why Xavier had chosen this particular man to run the funeral. She wasn't hanging onto a single word that he was saying and by the glassy eyes that were surrounding her, she guess that nobody else was either.

Marie started to drift off, remembering one of the moments that she had treasured spending with Evan. When she had been a senior and he a junior, there had been a party thrown at the Brotherhood house. Pietro, obviously trying to salvage his reputation in a mess he had recently made, had mistakenly invited the entire two grades worth of upperclassmen to his house. The part had soon gotten out of hand and Kitty had left, stranding them with about a hundred drunken upperclassmen. Marie had decided to join in and soon her actions resulted in a sickening feeling and vomiting on the carpet. 

__

Rogue, how much did you have to drink?

Not that much, Evan. Just leave me alone.

I can't do that. You're my friend, quite possibly the only one here who's retained their mind. 

Just go--Fine. I'm fine, Evan. Let's go home.

Perseverance. He had called a taxi and then snuck her into the Institute. She had awoken the next morning with a headache and a memory of a friend who wouldn't let her suffer alone. And she'd left him to fend for himself. What a hypocrite. 

"And now, we'd like Marie…well, just Marie to come up here and give the Eulogy," the priest said, snapping Marie out of her thoughts. She walked towards the podium and squeezed around the Professor's wheelchair. He looked nervous; beads of sweat were forming on his forehead. She allows his nervousness to enter her in the form of confidence and strode up to the podium. She looked at the sea of faces and then balled her hands up into fists. 

"Charles Xavier's Institute for Gifted Youngsters. I learned that my place was there after being betrayed by somebody who had been my foster-mother. In my three years there I learned all about the world that he put forth. Not a world for the genius, four-point-oh grade point averages, and solid A-pluses. I'm not talking about gifted in that way, as so many people have mistaken it for. I'm talking about gifted in a whole different aspect. Gifted through the genetics. Gifted because we all had the X-Gene. Gifted because we were mutants." Marie heard the collective gasp raise from the audience. A few people stood up to leave, but she held up a hand. 

"Please hear me out," she commanded. Her will flew forth in her voice and the mourners heard it, for they sat and continued to listen. 

"Evan arrived at the Institute shortly before I did. He was stronger then normal and needed more calcium because he had the power to protrude bones from his body. He grew up like me in many ways though. We were both outcasts, him the punk skateboarders, me the Goth. Neither of us ever truly fit in. We were late, we were high, we were cutting class, and we didn't give.

"After I graduated, I took off. I left Evan to fend for himself. The one person at the Institute who truly understood me. He knew what it was like to get drunk, to fail, to never succeed. He knew what it was like to hurt somebody unintentionally and then to live with the pain. He knew what it felt like to be abandoned. Our mentor, Mr. Xavier, almost 'sent him home to his parents' once. In our terminology, Evan was no longer good enough and was tarnishing the image of our school. Therefore he needed to be removed. 

"What happened after I left is still a mystery to me. I don't know how my friend died; I don't know why he died. But I do know that Professor Xavier had a part in it. I know that he didn't like those who didn't conform and did everything possible in his power to eradicate those who didn't. For the last few nights, Xavier has been sending me dreams about how I could have saved Evan and the others. The truth is that they've all been destroyed. They've allowed Xavier to enter their mind and control their thoughts. They've been giving him complete control. And I know that the only person who's ever fought back was Evan. And now he's dead."

Marie slowly let her eyes sweep the crowd. Kitty was giving her a slight smile and nodding her head while the other three looked at her darkly. Xavier held his head in his hand, tears rolling down his clenched fingers. Logan and Ororo had pulled away from him, both giving him awful looks. Marie cleared her throat. "Remember Evan. He crossed the line. Remember the disobedient one. Remember the one who died. Thank you," she left the podium and strolled past Xavier. He reached his hand out towards her as if to pull her back, but Marie simply brushed him aside. 

Today Rogue had been buried for good. Today Xavier met his downfall, the danger room empty. Today Evan's memory would be engraved into everybody's mind. Marie continued to walk down the long aisle between the rows of seats. She sauntered out of the room and walked back to the Institute. There she collected her bag and left without a backward glance. Today Rogue was leaving for good. Today Marie escaped.


End file.
